That sounds borderline dangerous. It’s only 1110’ vert, so not crazy, but still…
No. That’s Crazy.
Interesting. I’m cleaning house and found a pair of old ski pants I bought in a thrift years ago, but haven’t ever used. In the back pocket is a wadded up credit card reciept from Crested Butte from January 2006.
Skiing and “Damage Insurance”. $36.88 This has to be rental, No?
And we have a winner! Justin Lagassey did 76 laps, 213 miles and 85,500 vertical feet!
Yup. That’s insane.
Finally got off my lazy ass and went and skied the Face at Heavenly for a few hours. For the lack of serious natural snow, it was actually pretty damn good. Moderate, but well-defined moguls, only the easily identifiable Agricultural spots and Mad-Made Death Ice Sheets. Had a great day!
Still skiing through the injury, but the steepness and the moguls prevented the searing agony in the thighs that I have been experiencing on the fast groomers. Back to using the muscle I have, not the muscle I should have.
Gonna hit it tomorrow, Wed and Friday. Dogs will have to deal with it!
I’ve got 11 days of skiing in so far this season. My most recent was last Friday at Okemo. It was warm (high 30s), but we found near-perfect conditions on the Nor’easter trail. We did that trail 4 times in a row.
The worst conditions I’ve experienced so far this year were at Sunday River on a frigid weekend in January. The whole mountain was scraped-off boilerplate. I slid out in one steep bottleneck that was a sheet of ice (as did a ski patroller right after me), and aggravated the shoulder I had surgery on last season.
This weekend is the 9th annual Scout trip to Pats Peak that I’ve been running every year (except during Covid) since 2015. This is also exactly one year since I got injured there, so I plan to be extra cautious.
I need to teach my kid to ski next week. Wanting to avoid spending $299 for an all day lesson where they’ll spend half of it hiding in a corner, my plan is for us to ride up the gondola at Keystone, and spend the entire morning coming down Schoolmarm (2.5 miles of the most dangerous green run I’ve ever experienced, with out of control snowboarders whizzing past, and obstacles made of crashed beginners and their gear).
Any advice or pointers to articles or videos about how to teach a 10 year old to ski?
Youtube is your friend… Are they athletic? Maybe Copper or Loveland would be a better choice?
This YouTube channel seems pretty good:
Also for a newbie maybe start on a beginner/bunny slope served by a magic carpet (i.e. conveyor belt) before heading up the mountain.
I have an Epic pass, and all grade schoolers get an Epic pass, so it is going to be one of those resorts. Keystone seems the best, because at least parking is free. That way if the day is a total bust, at least it won’t cost me more than the ski rental.
Thanks, I’ll go through some of those SKNG videos. They’ve done the carpets at Keystone on a snowboard last year, and carpets at Loveland on skis about 5 years ago. Taking the gondola up means that if they want to go home, they have to decide to either hike back up to the gondola, or ski down to the bottom.
If your goal is for the kids to want to ski again in the future, then this “sink or swim” approach is likely to backfire, in my experience and humble opinion.
This is how I was taught (or more precisely, not taught) when I eight years old, and again in my early 20s. In each case it turned me off skiing for decades. I didn’t finally learn to ski until I was in my mid-40s.
What I think is better is to start on a slope that is easy and let the newbie be the one who pushes to go to the next level.
Many new skiers have a lot of fun and can develop their skills by doing laps on the beginner slopes. And if they get tired they can quit at any time instead of being stranded somewhere on the mountain.
I also think that one-on-one lessons are invaluable. To be honest, I was too cheap to pay for them for myself, but lucked into a few when I was the only person who showed up to a scheduled group lesson. Of course, one’s motivation to learn is a big part of it as well.
That really is my biggest concern. My kid will give up on hard things if there is an easy way out, which means during formal lessons they’ll spend about half the time just sitting around watching. My guess is that things will start with whining, possibly move on to a tantrum, and then they’ll either get through the anxiety and start trying, or I’ll run out of patience after an hour of sitting in the snow, and we’ll download.
Just to be clear, going skiing is something they’ve been begging for all winter. Long term me would love my kid to learn how to ski, but short term me hates to waste a ski day.
My first time ever on skis was the same thing. I definitely got more out of my second day, which was a proper lesson, and if we get through this, then I think they’ll get a lot more out of a lesson.
A one-on-one lesson would be great, but it is almost $1000 for a 3 hours! So instead we’re getting a one-on-one Daddy/Daughter lesson. Problem is I know how to ski, but I don’t know how to teach skiing.
Jesus–you could fly both of you to Bozeman from Denver and take a private lesson at Bridger for less than that. We have a nice guest room…
No sh!t! Around Tahoe they are pricing private lessons well over that - $1,400!
When my kids were little I put them in lessons and they couldn’t wait to get out of there and just play in the snow. After that I gave it a try and they’d ski for an hour or two and then want to go play in the snow. Luckily, tix were relatively cheap for them at the time, so no bother - I would leave them and go do some runs on my own (and not waste a day on the slopes as you say). But yeah, it’s back-breaking and exhausting showing someone, especially someone small, how to ski.
But, I agree with @robby you need to start them on the easy slopes and get them doing laps to rapidly improve their skills - repetition is what’s needed. A kid may get discouraged quickly if they are not picking it up as fast as they thought, and get frustrated and/or tired if the hill is too hard or too long. Skiing is not a video game where they can effortlessly redo something. Once I got my kids riding the lift and scooting down the bunny hill on their own it was pure joy - they were having fun and feeling accomplished and started thinking about moving up the mountain. But the basics are learned on the bunny hill.
https://bridgerbowl.com/lessons/private
Eldora is similar. Might be a good option.
Yeah, lessons at the major ski resorts cost a fortune.
For newbies, I’ve had good luck at the small, independent ski areas. Their lesson programs are usually much cheaper. At Pats Peak in New Hampshire, you can get a one-hour group lesson this weekend for $60 and a private lesson for $129. They also have a lift, lesson, and rental package for $169.
Wow, a 3 hour private lesson at Bridger ($360) is only a bit more than a group full day at Keystone ($329). And that is the cheapest of the Epic resorts.
Even at the cheaper places like Loveland and Ski Cooper, having a free lift ticket to Keystone does even things out. A full day lesson at Loveland is $209 + $50 Valley ticket, and add in my lift ticket and Keystone is still cheaper.
The cheapest way to do it in Colorado is probably Ski Cooper where a half day group lesson is $119. If my kid stays interested in skiing, I would absolutely plan a 2-night trip to Leadville next year.
They did that several years ago, up the carpet, slide down, up the carpet, slide down… I’m hoping some of that has stuck, and we won’t be starting absolutely from scratch. There is lots of room for repetition on a 2.5 mile green, just without the brief ride up.
They’ll be 11 in two months, so not a little kid, but easily discouraged and prone to frustration related outbursts.
That is also potentially a good option, but it might wait until next year. This is the last year my kid qualifies for a free Epic pass, so I might switch to an Ikon card next year, just for variety, which will make Eldora a good place for a kid’s lesson ($269 all inclusive).
You can do the cat skiing at Ski Cooper while the kid takes a lesson (if they’re still offering it–I did it 30+ years ago).
Bridger is very local/family oriented (it’s a non-profit). It also has SERIOUS expert terrain. Bring a beacon–you need one to ride Schlasman’s lift.
Humm… I think I see an opportunity here…